Mimicking Snout-Nosed Katydid from Australia

Australian Grasshopper April 10, 2010 Hi Bugman, would this be a grasshopper? Besides the eyes, I was also curious about the reddish/orange thing it had on its neck, but looking at grasshopper photos I guess it’s its mouth, not a tick or something gorging on it… Best, Ridou Ridou Ridou Sydney Australia

Conehead Katydid

Hi Ridou, Nice to hear from you again. This is not a grasshopper, but rather, a member of the same order, but classified as the suborder Ensifera of Long-Horned Orthoperta, and the family Tettigoniidae of Katydids, and the subfamily Conocephalinae of Coneheads.

Conehead Katydid

We were unable to find a match on the Brisbane Insect website, and time if precious right now, so we are requesting assistance from an expert in the family, Piotr Naskrecki. Stay tuned for an update.

Conehead Katydid

Hi Daniel, This is a female of Pseudorhynchus, possibly P. lessonii, but impossible to say based on the photo. Cheers, Piotr

With that information, we discovered on the Australian Museum website that this genus is known as the Mimicking Snout-Nosed Katydids and that: “It has strong mandibles for cracking grass seeds and, if carelessly handled, can give a nasty bite.”